Rocking all over the world ??

In the mid-1970s, advertising executive Gary Dahl attended a bar with his friends. ??

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I’m not sure how this comes up in conversation at a bar, but as the story goes they were complaining about their pets.

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Gary cracked a joke. “You’d be better off having a hassle-free rock as a pet!” (I might be paraphrasing here).

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And he was right. Sort of.

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Gary looked into it. He sourced smooth rocks from Mexico and packaged them in a box with straw and a tongue-in-cheek instruction manual.

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“Your pet rock will be a devoted friend and companion for many years to come.” stated Dahl’s booklet.

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Indeed, there were many advantages to having a rock as a pet. They lived for a long time, they didn’t need any training, and they were excellent at playing dead.

The fad exploded upon launch.?

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More than one million were sold in a matter of months. Gary found himself on the Tonight Show and the pet rock found itself embedded in popular culture for decades to come.

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As with many fads, enthusiasm for the product waned and within a couple of years its moment in the sun waned.

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But it serves as a stark reminder of the power of innovative marketing and how we interpret consumer behaviour.

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In the end, the pet rock wasn't really about the rock itself.

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It was about the story and the marketing behind it. A frankly bored public relished in this new concept, at least until they realised it was indeed just an expensive rock. ??

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You might say Gary got lucky. He probably did. But he also identified a problem and found an incredibly unconventional way to solve it.

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Your customers are faced with problems all the time and they are always keen to purchase products to solve them.?

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And whilst gimmicks have a life span, the next filling station sensation could be just around the corner.?

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